Bull's Achilles Heel: Weak Consumer Stocks

Even as the market hits new highs, retail, restaurants, media, and other consumer shares are lagging.

In a regular bull market, if such a thing exists, stocks of companies catering to consumers with money to spend should be among the leaders. After all, if the stock market reflects the economy, then consumer spending on optional items such as electronics and vacations should be strong.

Yet, the Select Sector SPDR Consumer Discretionary ETF (ticker: XLY) is being left in the dust by the rest of the market. Of the major sectors ETFs, consumer discretionary is the only one not at or near 52-week highs. Its relative...